Yet the freedom which hong kong cinema experienced was constrained by the contours of. Pdf the missing female knighterrant in hong kong action. In the next installment of the history of hong kong action cinema, well move on to the period between the 60s and 80s, focusing on the reign of the shaw brothers and the hong kong new wave. Considering that donnie yen, who is largely considered as the best actual fighter amongst the many actors of the genre, held the leading role, the result was unavoidably majestic. Opening hours are from 10am 5pm closed on tuesdays. Here is a list with a few of the best samples of hong kong action. Hk wah fu estate hong kong opera house wah lok path mar2012. Finally, this book also contains historical and geographical. Hong kong action cinema with budgets that are lunch money by hollywood standards, a handful of hong kong filmmakers are producing some of the most exciting and innovative eyeball kick movies around. Pdf the aesthetics of mystical violence in hong kong. Cccu4040 exploring hong kong through film and popular music v2.
Starting in the 1980s, the hong kong cinema helped to reestablish many genres, such as gangster films, crime dramas, and kung fu comedies, which would have an impact worldwide. I follow hong kong action movies, but sadly, it seems such movies have kinda gone out of style either that, or the classic action stars are aging out. At its height in the 1980s and 90s, hong kong became the third largest film production city in the world. Zu warriors from the magic mountain 1983 by tsui hark. The hong kong studios absorbed the immigrating film talent, among them many filmmakers, studio executives and actors, which would strengthen their power as one of the major powers in the asian film market. As a former british colony, hong kong had a greater degree of political and economic freedom than mainland china and taiwan, and developed into a filmmaking hub for the chinesespeaking. Everything you always wanted to know about hong kong action cinema by gary johnson. He has a couple of shelves full of movies from hong kong, most of them on dvd digital video disc. The fight scenes were choreographed by hong kongs finest action director, yuen woping. Sammo hung and tony leung, two of the most prominent members of hong kong action cinema, designed and choreographed the action scenes. Hong kong action has not only seized the imaginations of filmmakers working in many countries, cultural traditions and styles a very long film could be compiled of scenes from world cinema remaking such hong kong signature moments as bruce lees shoulderrolling, neckcracking stretch from the way of the dragon, john woos flying doves and. Chapter 3 provides a condensed history of hong kong filmmaking up to 1997. The following interlude,two dragons, talks about bruce lee and jackie chan, the two most famous hong kong heroes. As filmart, asias largest film rights sales market, rolls out march 1922, hong kong sales agencies are.
Genre salad but hong kong isnt hollywood, and thats the first thing that makes these movies so awesome from the perspective of an average american guy who grew up with hollywoods formulas. All hong kong cinema film screenings are open to the emory community. In view of the latest situation of covid19, the hong kong film archive will be partially open starting from 6 may 2020. We will implement the following special arrangements and precautionary measures to help ensure public safety. Hong kong film archive hong kong film archive has a big pdf file with 9861 hong kong movies listed from 1914 to 2010. Most articles and books about hong kong cinema only look at films from the early 80s to the present, neglecting the wealth of movies made throughout the previous decades. Run run shaw was already fifty years old when he establish his own studio in 1957 which would quickly become the more glamorous of all east asia and dominate hong kong kong cinema scene for nearly a quarter of a century. Not only does the game avoid accusa tions of racial insensitivity but also. With a fulllength scenario set in hong kong and inspired by the jackie chan police story movies among others, hktf88 also includes quickstart rules, reference sheets, and readytoplay archetypes.
Hong kong film archive, soak in the magic of the glamorous cinema history and catch an old flick. Hong kong film archive cinema in hong kong, cn cinema treasures. Cccu4040 exploring hong kong through film and popular. A newlydeveloped system, hong kong film archive management system hkfams, will be launched in 20 to replace the horizon.
This course explores various political, economic, social and cultural issues of hong kong through film and popular music. For these authors, hong kong cinema didnt really begin until john woo broke the mold with his hyperkinetic violent action movies, and for. It refers many times to movies that are long out of print, but in 2002 an essential guide to hong kong martial arts movies. Publication date 1996 topics motion pictures china hong kong, adventure films china hong kong. In recent years, the flow has reversed somewhat, with american and. This essay investigates how the openworld action adventure video game sleeping dogs constructs cultural authenticity as a feature of its narration and digital game play. I caught a jackie chan here, a tsui hark there, and cable tv yielded up oddities like shaolin kungfu mystagogue. Hong kongs movie stars were highly attractive and recognisable, but to remain relevant, hong kong cinema had to shift its attention to mainland audiences, and cut back on some of its more. Learn everything there is to know about cinema while gazing through books, magazines and much more.
Fivestorey high, its net floor area of 7,200 square meters is structurally divided into two big partitions. The american connection in early hong kong cinema 44 law kar 3. In the next installment of this history of hong kong action cinema series, well move on to the 1930s, and well discuss the rise and fall of an empire. The hong kong film archive building is a worldclass facility. If you are looking for a social critique with postmodernistic and marxist fervor on mainly the more wellknown 1990s hong kong films then this is your book. The fight scenes were choreographed by hong kong s finest action director, yuen woping. The 15 best hong kong action movies taste of cinema movie.
Hong kongs filmart braces for shifting landscape of asian. In 1993, it had produced a record 238 films and its doyen director, john woo, was about to. One side of the building is dedicated to storage, which has independent air conditioning system with dehumidification and acidic gaseous removal functions. Publication date 1996 topics motion pictures china hong kong, adventure films china hong kong history and criticism, handtohand fighting, oriental, in motion pictures publisher. The matrix series in particular is heavily influenced by the far east, and especially hong kong. Hong kong cinema s first american reception 19 david desser 2. The book is a bit longinthetooth, originally published in 1995 at the height of hong kong cinema. Although the shaw era is long gone, no other movie making establishment has ever been able to make its mark the way the shaw brothers has and for as long. One of the rare gweilos involved in a great many recent hong kong productions fearless, mummy 3, blood the last vampire, true legend, leeder has appeared in front of the camera and also worked behind it. Jul 26, 2017 starting in the 1980s, the hong kong cinema helped to reestablish many genres, such as gangster films, crime dramas, and kung fu comedies, which would have an impact worldwide. Donnie yen on how hong kong action cinema can reclaim its. On top of that, he has generously been sharing his passion for hong kong and asian movies with fans in.
Hong kong task force double eight is a lowpriced starter product originally released in print as part of the limited free rpg day promotion and now available in pdf. The 15 best hong kong action movies taste of cinema. The cinema of hong kong is one of the three major threads in the history of chinese language cinema, alongside the cinema of china, and the cinema of taiwan. The haunting presence of taiwan in hong kong films of the. It is also a comprehensive guide to the history of hong kong cinema, tracing the background to this exciting film genre from filmed chinese opera, through the work of the shaw brothers and lau kar leung, to the mixture of fantasy and fastmoving action that typifies the present day. The combination of these three perspectives will reveal the dynamics and tensions between the local and the transnational, between production and reception, and between text and context, in the gendered manifestations of hong kong cinema. After escaping trial, she is captured by medics who insert a black cat chip into her brain putting her under the complete control of the american cia.
Yet the freedom which hong kong cinema experienced was constrained by the contours of unrestricted commercialism. Sep 22, 2016 hong kongs movie stars were highly attractive and recognisable, but to remain relevant, hong kong cinema had to shift its attention to mainland audiences, and cut back on some of its more. Hong kong action cinema an introduction by david eber the action films of the hong kong cinema, now finally breaking ever so slightly into the mainstream, have had a cult following in the u. The aesthetics of mystical violence in hong kong action films. The balletic, often violent, frequently absurd but always imaginative and entertaining cinematic output of that tiny island is leaping and chop. For these authors, hong kong cinema didnt really begin until john woo broke the mold with. Hong kong was among the first film industries to produce videos in this stateoftheart format. Located in sai wan ho, on hong kong island, the hong kong film archive cinema is on the first and second floor of the hong kong film archive building which opened in january 2001. Stephen teos hong kong cinema which needs a new release and david bordwells second edition of planet hong kong are easily more complete reads on hong kong movies.
Most parts of this the history of hong kong action cinema series will be broken into decades. The resource centre endeavours to promote school visits in order to enhance students appreciation of. Chronology of hong kong cinema david desser and poshek fu part i. Dec 11, 2014 the hong kong studios absorbed the immigrating film talent, among them many filmmakers, studio executives and actors, which would strengthen their power as one of the major powers in the asian film market. Known as big mike, brit mike leeder has been living the life in hong kong since 1990. By the 1930s hong kong would no longer be in competition with its neighboring regions, but turn into one of the major players in the world cinema market. The films that have come out of hong kong are a lot of fun and a lot more creative than the cookie cutter homogenized celluloid clones that hollywood continues to crank out ad nasuem. Modernity, youth culture, and hong kong cantonese cinema 71 poshek fu 4.
Although hong kong cinema would never again dominate u. Time and tide tsui hark, 2000 tsui hark returned to hong kong after a largely disappointing attempt in hollywood, where both of his films with jean claude van damme double team and knock off plummeted commercially and artistically. The film stars jade leung as catherine who accidentally kills a truck driver. During the 1980s, while writing about hollywood cinema and. This page is dedicated to the hong kong action cinema movie makers,and an academic research database to the history of hong kong action cinema. This image is a derivative work of the following images. Hong kong film archive cinema in hong kong, cn cinema. Each piece contains a brief synopsis, followed by my thoughts on the film. Hong kong action cinema by bey logan is another good guide to one of the most innovative film corporations. Only the title is available in english also some movies related to thailand are operation bangkok 1967, night in bangkok 1967, the greatest thai boxing 1974, carry on bangkok 1977, springtime in pattaya 1976, bangkok lover 1995. Hong kong star donnie yen who will be featured in disneys upcoming live action remake of mulan discusses how hong kong action cinema can reclaim its former glory.
In 1993, it had produced a record 238 films and its doyen director, john woo, was about to dive, twin guns aflame, through hollywoods. Followers of hong kong films know what action really is. John wick pays better homage to 90s hong kong cinema than anything that has actually come out of hong kong in the last 10 years. Sep, 2011 in the mid90s, the hong kong film industry ate itself alive. Nov 24, 2015 here is a list with a few of the best samples of hong kong action. But although local filmmakers now create less and less of those. Much of the gunplay is taken from the films of john woo. The next chapter, once upon a time in the west, traces how. The cinema in the hong kong film archive building has 125 seats and four wheelchair spaces. America in the world film market 19071934 pdf online. This first part of the series is going to focus on a wide span of time where a lot was going on in hong kongs growing movie business, and the region.
Bbc news entertainment how hong kong took hollywood. Exploring hong kong through film and popular music course code. It combines elements from the action film, as codified by hollywood, with chinese storytelling, aesthetic traditions and filmmaking techniques, to create a culturally distinctive form that nevertheless has a wide transcultural appeal. But it wasnt until the 1980s that a new generation of directors and starsa moviemaking system, in factreached its boiling point, and american audiences began to hear about. In the mid90s, the hong kong film industry ate itself alive. The hong kong film archive is part of the leisure and cultural services department of the hong kong sar government. Hong kong action cinema is the principal source of the hong kong film industrys global fame.
A year after the release of his first bona fide hit, snake in the eagles shadow 1978, chan took the hong kong film world by storm with his first socalled kung fu comedy, the nowclassic. In the next installment of the history of hong kong action cinema, well move on to the period between the 60s and 80s, focusing on. The redhot chinese box office has created big problems for hong kong sales companies. It is also a comprehensive guide to the history of hong kong cinema, tracing the background to this exciting film genre from filmed chinese opera, through the work of the shaw brothers and lau kar leung, to the mixture of fantasy and fastmoving action that typifies the present day style. The hong kong film industry is no stranger to controversy a look at the history of the citys category iii films proves that.
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